MONEY raised from controversial school bus fares could end up funding the bureaucracy needed to collect the fares and administer refunds and exemptions, say opponents of the charges.

MONEY raised from controversial school bus fares could end up funding the bureaucracy needed to collect the fares and administer refunds and exemptions, say opponents of the charges.

And one MP believes that bus fares paid daily by each child could lead to an increase in truancy.

The National Assembly Government wants six local authorities in Wales to run pilot schemes where most children are charged to travel on school buses.

It says the scheme would bring in money for improvements to the school transport service, including safety measures.

But critics say they have yet to see any details about how the fares will be collected, and warn that administering the system could swallow much of the money raised by fares.

The bus fares may involve more bureaucracy in Wales than in England because free travel will be granted to all pupils eligible for free school dinners in England, while in Wales local authorities will have to consider other factors such as rurality and the number of children in each family.

Geraint Davies, secretary of NASUWT Cymru, said teachers would not collect bus fares because a recent agreement ensured teachers no longer collected any monies from pupils.

Mr Davies said, "Who collects the money? Will they have conductors on the buses once a month?

"In many ways the cost of collecting the money will outweigh the advantages and benefits of local councils being in a position to charge the children."

Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Opik said, "I would want to see an explanation of the admin costs across Wales.

"The bus driver will most likely be landed with collecting the fares, but what happens if a child spends the money on something else. Do you keep the child off the bus?"

He said that collecting money each day could encourage pupils to play truant and spend the money elsewhere.

"Instead of waving goodbye to their parents, they could be waving goodbye to the bus. That's not going to look to great for government statistics on school attendance."

Advance charges each term would lead to complications as parents demanded refunds for periods when their children were off sick, Mr Davies said.

In England exemptions from the proposed charges would automatically apply to all children who currently qualify for free school dinners.

But the Assembly Government is less clear about the definition and will put the onus on local education authorities (LEAs) to decide who should not be charged.

The Assembly's prospectus on the school bus charges states, "We are concerned that charges could be particularly burdensome for families with incomes that fall just above the free school meal eligibility level, for large families, and possibly for those that have to travel long distances to school in rural areas.

"We expect scheme LEAs to explain how they propose to manage a charging regime cost effectively, taking into account the needs of low income and large families."